Ezeibe said that the volunteers were subjected to monthly tests for viral loads and CD4-lymphocyte counts.

“With the antiviral effects of the medicine, its ability to reach all cells (as nanoparticles) and the lymphocytes, there is no more hiding place (sanctuary) for HIV,” he said.

He said that the medicine had been used to potentiate Ampicilin, Chloroquine, Piperazine and Sulphadimidin, among others, and could be a major foreign exchange earner for Nigeria, if approved by relevant authorities.

According to him, “local and international medical companies will find the product as a veritable raw material”.

Ezeibe said that he presented the research findings to the World Virology Conference in Atlanta in 2015, and Antonio (Texas) in 2016.

Besides, he said that the results of the laboratory tests had been published in many international scientific journals, including the British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research, among several others.

He said that he is also about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with a U.S.-based Scientific Research Publishing, publishers of World Journal of AIDS, for the publication of his book “How I came about the cure for HIV/AIDS”.

Ezeibe, who said that the medicine was patented in August 2014 in Nigeria, called on the Federal Government to help him to secure international patency for the drug.

He said: “If commercialised, the Medicinal Synthetic Aluminum-Magnesium Silicate would become an alternative for petroleum to the Nigerian economy.”

While the professor may be entitled to his claim, hundreds of such claims are announced every year by scientists claiming to have found a cure to the deadly disease. However, there are standards criteria which demands rigorous clinical tests which have to be verified by various layers of health organisations. But in this case, none have been reported, so it is likely that the discovery is fake as nothing is yet confirmed.The Nigerian minister of health, has also denied knowledge of the claim.